The sacred site at Chaudiere Falls in Ottawa is under more attention as the National Capital Commission recently announced that they will soon be no longer allowing public access to Victoria Island, for the next seven years. Victoria Island is the island most downstream from the falls and not subject to the controversial Zibi development project, that is often used for ceremony, and was the site of Chief Theresa Spence’s Idle No More hunger strike/fast.

The Zibi developers have announced that the first occupancies of their project (on the Gatineau shoreline, then the two islands closest to the waterfalls) will happen this fall and winter, while the full development will still have several years until completion.

These recordings are posted here for those who would like to understand more about the need to protect the site, the failure of development-approval and Indigenous rights processes for these circumstances, its situating within the larger colonial project of the Canadian state, and the significance of the site for the Algonquin nation.

The first recording is especially timely with the Ottawa municipal election on October 22.

There is also an upcoming panel discussion – “Reconciliation: Re-Membering Creator’s First Pipe” – taking place in Ottawa the afternoon of Saturday October 27 for those interested in learning more. The planned speakers are Lynn Gehl, Albert Dumont, Lindsay Lambert, and Randy Boswell. Tickets are required, at $22, and approximately two-thirds of the 100 seats have already been taken, as of Oct 15.

AUDIO

Clive Doucet, former Ottawa city councilor and current mayoral candidate, speaking at the June 2016 Stop Windmill panel discussion (the other two speakers were Douglas Cardinal and Cathy Remus). He speaks mainly about general issues around development approval. mp3 file (10min)

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Wolf Lake Chief Harry St. Denis, who led the successful AFN-QL and AFN (#49) resolutions of 2015 that call for the government to protect the sacred site, speaking at an INAN parliamentary committee hearing in October 2017. This audio is mostly about the Algonquin land claim and federal policy; the Chaudiere Falls/Akikodjiwan discussion starts at around 6:00. mp3 file (29min)*The Q&A section includes some responses from Timiskaming Chief Wayne McKenzie as well. This audio is compiled from the full hour+ session (click for full transcript)

Short highlight video made with excerpts of the above audio:

VIDEO

Kanatase Horn (PhD candidate; Mohawk from Kanawake/Kanesatake) presentation at Carleton University CIRCLE / ICGC conference March 2017, “Unsettling settler colonialism’s spatialities: Indigenous claims to land in urban spaces” (21min)Full talk description included at YouTube, Facebook, or in the conference program

Verna McGregor (Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg) – “The Importance of Sacred Sites” at The Walrus Talks: The Indigenous City – in Gatineau, April 2017. “The significance of Ottawa because of the meeting of four rivers and the clan system that is based on the watershed” (7min) YouTube link